Motivating and preparing first-year students in computer and engineering science

During recent years the interest in Engineering Studies has declined at universities both in the United States and in many Western European countries including Sweden. In addition, among those students that do enroll, an increasing number drop-out. This paper presents an attempt to mitigate these worrying problems in the form of a new kind of introductory course for first-year engineering students studying on a 5-year long Master of Science program in Computer Science and Engineering. The course is novel in that it takes a holistic approach to motivate and prepare students for their further studies. Core subjects and useful tools are mixed together into an intense 10-week course with 12 separate course modules on different topics, often running in parallel. The course has a total of 21 individual examinations to take, tasks to carry out, and deadlines to meet. The examinations and tasks are chosen among those common in our School of Engineering. Evaluations show that, although demanding for the students, the course works well and fulfills its goals.